Aron had now officially removed himself from American politics after handing the responsibility to his girlfriend's father. Or in other words, he had passed it on to Rina. And after spending more than a week in the US, he finally left the Rothschild compound and headed back to Eden, this time by himself since Rina had to stay back and deal with overseeing some things before she could come to Eden once again.
During that time, changes had been taking place in Eden. The US, which had sent a low level member of the government when they were invited to the celebration parade, had sent their deputy secretary of state, William Burns, to Eden in order to foster diplomatic ties. He had promised a swift approval process in the FDA, as well as beginning negotiations for a trade agreement that would bring oil from Eden to America, bringing the countries closer than they'd been before. If it weren't for the fact that the current US Secretary of State was, at that very moment, on a campaign bus somewhere near Idaho, Hillary Clinton herself probably would have been the one to go to Eden.
...
Also during that time, the new company presidents had gotten to work just days after waking up from their genetic enhancements. With newly reinvigorated bodies and peace of mind from having their grudges settled, they took full advantage of the time dilation in the simulation and had managed to do many things in a short period of time.
Elizabeth Oppliger, the president of Helios Energy & Utility, Inc., had gotten used to her position and implemented many things.
With all the construction projects under her company having been finished before she became the president, she had focused on efficient integrations of the tasks delegated to her company. Among the many things that she did was placing competent people in important positions of each Helios branch office to oversee the local operation and what repairs that required people to do. That wasn't a lot, as the patrolling atomic printer handled all of the underground repairs save a few, which were mostly for show to prevent the printers from being discovered at work.
She had also implemented a payment structure on an income- and value-derived sliding scale so that utilities would remain affordable to all. It was a complex calculation based on the value of the property and the income of the people living on, or using it, so the more affluent Edenians paid more in an absolute sense than the poorer citizens. She had also cooperated with president Chakrabarti of the Coeus Foundation to set up a charity fund to keep lights on and water running in case of disaster, so people were quite relieved and Liz had quickly joined the ranks of the most-beloved leaders in Eden, alongside Sarah and Felix.
At the moment, she was in her office with her eyes closed, taking a power nap—or so her secretary thought—but she was in Lab City. She was wearing a white lab coat and doing something she could only have dreamed of during the ten long years she spent studying in school: researching new energies. And she was doing it in a lab that had everything she could only have dreamed of, and more.
"I really can't believe that Aron discovered such a magical form of energy," she said.
"How's our new formula holding in the mixture with the energy?" she asked.
The other researcher in the lab with her answered, "Although the new formula is stable, it only holds its stability for a few months before evaporating if it's not in a perfect environment. So nobody will really approve of using it when they know it'll disappear if it's not properly stored in a rather expensive and maintenance-hungry environment." The researcher didn't know what to call the low-grade mana liquid, and thought it was just something Aron had discovered after doing many, many simulations. At the moment, they were trying to find a way to make a mana liquid that was stable enough to introduce to the world as a source of energy.
"It's really fascinating," Liz said as she looked at the data she had already read about the formula. "It's at least a hundred times more energy dense than any other form of energy. And depending on the way it's harnessed or used, it may result in an energy efficiency of more than 80%." If that held true, it would be incredibly unprecedented.
"Increase the concentration of the stabilizing agent to 85% and see if it holds for a longer period of time," she said, then walked to the door to leave the lab. The moment she passed through the doorway, she opened her eyes in the real world and ended her short "power nap" with a smile on her face. The hard work she was putting in wasn't exhausting to her at all, as it was what she had been dreaming of doing for her entire life.
…...
"We should be ready to implement a 24-hour delivery time for premium subscribers to our shopping app, as long as they're in Eden".
Rachael Richardson was listening to the team leader responsible for overseeing the introduction of premium features and benefits to those using the Hermes app to buy and sell things. Hermes would be responsible for warehousing and shipping them, much like Amazon was doing in most of the rest of the world.
"Did we receive the delivery vehicles in all of the planned locations?" she asked as she perused the document in her hand.
"Yes. We also used their delivery as a test to see if we can accomplish our planned promise of next-day delivery, and we managed to complete 97% of them in time. So I think it's safe to say that we can roll out the premium subscription service," the team leader answered.
"Then go ahead and start the roll out process," she said, then returned her focus to the papers in her hand.
Once the team leader had left and she was alone in her office, she put down the papers and leaned back in her comfortable, luxurious chair as she closed her eyes and logged into the universal simulation.
She appeared in a long corridor that was brightly lit by powerful white LED lights. She was the only one in the entire corridor, as evidenced by the echoing clack of her heels hitting the floor as she walked to the end of the corridor, which had only one door.
The moment she reached the end of the corridor, the door automatically opened, revealing a large room. It had a few pieces of furniture, but nothing flattering or comfortable.
"Now, shall we continue? We're only five percent of the way there," she giggled to the man who had started shivering on the bed when he heard her voice, which anyone would think was coming from a composed and calm person.
"You don't have to worry too much. I promised that I'd let you leave when I'm done inflicting exactly what you inflicted on me, nothing more and nothing less. And since time passes faster here than in the real world, it won't take too long to experience everything. You should be rejoicing," she said in a calm voice.
Although she still had some sympathy for others, she had none for the man in front her. Aron had shown her everything he was feeling when he was inflicting pain on her, together with the reason why he had become abusive. And as a result of that information, she felt nothing but vengeful anger that she had been slowly chipping down by inflicting the same pain she had received from him. She also knew it was being used as therapy for her, and she would be completely healed by the time she reached a 100% completion rate.
As for his real body, it was laying in a hospital bed. He had suffered an air embolism and left in a coma. His "loving wife" Rachael had brought him to Eden and put him in a VIP hospital room with round-the-clock care and technologically advanced versions of everything a care team would need to ensure his survival.
